Morris Minor Owners Club

Another problem, today I started up the moggie and it ran perfectly fine for 30 minutes until I turned the engine off and popped into the shop. When I returned and turned the key the engine didn't start but i could hear a clicking noise. So me and the girlfriend had to bumb start it and then it ran perfectly well, until we parked up and tried to start it again. So we tried bump starting it several times to no avail.

After towing it home with the help of my dad, we opened the bonnet and got out the trusty haynes manual but couldn't solve the problem. When turning on the ignition the starter switch clicked rapidly but the engine did not fire. Is it likely to be a faulty starter switch? Or could it possibly be something else?

Any help us much appreciated,

Thank You,
Rhys.

(P.s I fixed the front steering damper by simply fitting some new bolts, but now I've ran into this problem!)

Loose battery terminal or earth connections to starter motor! Guaranteed!!

Seconded!

If the solenoid is clicking - then yes it could be loose/bad connections - or just a flat battery - or a failed starter motor. You say it wouldn't even bump start after the first time ? Try the headlights on - how bright are they ? Then try the starter - do they get any dimmer - or not much change ?

Should get a crank handle, must easier than crash starting. Mind you do get a lot of looks, when you're in the middle of a supermarket produce a crank handle and proceed to start your car. But what the hey.

-Grant.

Thats half the fun of minor ownership!!

Incidentally a problem I had was that there was a sticky spot on the starter motor when the key was turned the soleniod clicked and giving it a spin on the handle free'd it off. It did this intermittently for a month or so an I've not had a problem since (guess it was due to 20 years of having been laid up!!)

Im not sure where the earth lead connects to the starter motor,
here's a picture of a green and brown wire that has come loose from somewhere, is this the wire you are talking about?

Can anyone tell me exactly where it fits?<br><BR><BR><br>

There is no earth wire to the starter motor, it relies on being securely bolted to the engine and also relies on all the battery and power cables to be tight to give a good circuit.
The wire looks as though it fits onto the oil pressure switch, just behind the distributor. As a general rule with a Minor if there is a looose wire just look around the engine bay until you find an empty terminal and chances are that the two will becorrect

The earth wire goes from the battery to the body of the car - both ends need to be clean. The engine is earthed to the body via a strap on the gearbox mounting Xmember (handy !!) - no harm adding another.

Just following up on what you have said, I have checked the battery terminals and everything is fine. So i've filmed the problem and the noise I hear when turning the ignition in hope that someone may of had a similar problem.

<embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i17.photobucket.com/player.swf?f ... <Br><embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i17.photobucket.com/player.swf?f ... 005071.flv">

If you are sure all the connections are ok it might be an idea to remove the starter motor and connect it to a battery with jump leads to test it off the car. Hold it down firmly because if it works ok it will twitch quite violently and should spin fast.

If the battery has a good charge then try a jump lead between the earth side of the battery and the engine.
There has to be a return path from the engine (rubber mounted) to the battery or you don't get a circuit and the starter wont turn properly.

Sounds like a duff battery listening to the noise its making and seeing the lights dim out on the dash. Have you tried another good charged battery ??

Assuming th starter is not 'jammed in' - it does sound like poor battery. But could also be dodgy solenoid/bad connections. The jump lead ideas above are good.

Your oil pressure light is not working, the light at 85mph on the speedo, only the ignition red light and the oil filter blockage light (the light at 15mph on the speedo). Have you connected that loose wire? If so then no problem, it is probably just connected to the wrong light in the speedo.

Hardly a priority when the car won't start!

Re cranking in the car park - insert the handle through the bumper but don't engage in with the dog on the crankshaft pulley.....rotate the crank for a while, slowing down towards the end, and tell folk you're just winding it up!